Helms-Burton Act Title IV Investigation Could Bar Scaioli from Entering United States for Trafficking in Artwork Confiscated by Cuban Government
PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Fanjul family is pleased to note that the State Department has opened an investigation into a potential violation of U.S. law by Bruno Scaioli, an Italian-Argentinean art dealer. It has long been suspected that Bruno Scaioli is in possession of at least one of the paintings that belongs to the Fanjul art collection. The Fanjul art collection was confiscated from the Fanjul family when the Cuban government was taken over by Fidel Castro. It is believed that many of the paintings in the Fanjul art collection were sold in international art markets by the Cuban government. It is the Fanjul family's goal to track down all of these paintings and secure the collection.
"We have been tireless in our pursuit of our paintings, and I am delighted that the State Department has launched the investigation," said J. Pepe Fanjul, senior family spokesman. "We hope that this will be a lesson for all in the art world that all these paintings in Cuba or with a Cuban source are strictly off limits."
The U.S. Department of State's investigation, which is one step on the road to excluding Bruno Scaioli, his spouse and minor children from the United States, should serve as a warning to all who would trade in confiscated paintings from Cuba. No matter what governmental stamps or certificates accompany such works, there is a high likelihood that they are in fact confiscated property. Art dealers that wish to visit and work in the United States should note that they will be unable to do so if they deal in confiscated property from Cuba.
"The action by the State Department demonstrates the huge risks that art dealers or collectors expose themselves to when they deal in paintings sourced out of Cuba," said Shanker Singham, counsel to the Fanjul family. "Given the importance of having access to the U.S. market, art dealers and collectors should put in place measures to enable them to avoid Cuban-sourced material. This is as important for a one-time buyer as it is for a prominent auction house. We recommend the Art Guidelines put in place by Sotheby's to ensure that art that was stolen by the Castro regime does not end up being traded into the international art market."
Enacted in 1996, the Helms-Burton Act provides (in additional to potential damages for violations) that those who traffic in confiscated property, i.e. property that was confiscated by the Cuban government after 1959, shall be denied access to the United States, and have any visas for their spouse or minor children revoked. The relevant provisions, found in Title IV of the Act, have been used or threatened against executives from Sherritt mining company, as well as Jamaican hotel chain Superclubs and Mexican Grupo Domos. Many companies have pulled out of Cuba rather than face sanctions under the Helms-Burton Act, or have acted to settle outstanding property claims to avoid liability.
The Fanjul family has searched for ways to protect its art collection since it was first confiscated by the Castro government in 1961. When the Fanjuls left Cuba, at the point of a gun, they never ceased in their efforts to secure and protect the art collection. After the Soviet Union collapsed and much of the funding that sustained the Cuban government was cut off, the Castro regime increasingly turned to other methods of securing hard currency. One such method was to sell off artwork that had been confiscated from Cubans and other citizens. When the Fanjuls discovered that a painting from the family's collection, entitled "Malaga Castel" by Joaquin Sorolla, had appeared in an international auction, they notified the relevant authorities and took steps to identify the possessor of the painting. They succeeded in tracing the painting to an international art dealer named Bruno Scaioli, and then reached out to the State Department to investigate whether Cuba sanctions legislation had been violated. Initially confirming that Bruno Scaioli was a person of interest in their investigation a year ago, the State Department has now launched a full scale investigation against him which could result in Scaioli (and his spouse and any minor children) being barred from the United States. Naturally, for an art dealer to be barred from the largest art market in the world could be catastrophic for their business.
The Fanjul family will vigorously pursue any and all of its stolen art until its collection is back in its rightful and proper place.
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